


You're Late

by drunkenpandaren



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Awkward Teen 80's Romance Movie Electric Boogaloo, F/M, I Just Made Up The Method of His Demise, I Swear I Didn't Make Up Sam Witwicky's Death It's Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 18:26:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18998089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drunkenpandaren/pseuds/drunkenpandaren
Summary: She waited for 30 Years. And the first thing she said was... "You're late..."





	You're Late

You’re Late

=====

“You never call.”

The expression on Bumblebee’s face said it all -- he deflated like an old tire as the woman stood across from him, leaning on the well maintained classic car. Gods how long has it been since he had seen her? This long journey that had taken him across this land and back again, through trials, tribulations, through fallen comrades.

There were simpler times. Simpler, gentler times.

“Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down,” tooted his radio and she cut him off with a hand wave.

“Bee. I’m not upset at you,” said Charlie, locking gaze with the Autobot as he stooped down to look at her. He looked so different now, a renegade outlaw who had been hiding with Cade for years now since Cybertronians had arrived, rose to glory, fallen from grace, got back up, fell again, and finally got back on their feet. How many times would they have to suffer for a war that was never ending?

“Did you find what you were looking for?” asked Charlie and his vocalizers hitched in his processor. Her hand was on his faceplate, just like old times, her bright eyes staring into his optics like it had never changed.

Sparks, it was like an eternity had never passed. Time had been kind to Charlie, she had grown into a fine woman, strong, powerful, he could recognize her from any distance, her features so similar, and so remarkable. Every human on this planet was so different, but Charlie’s was so unique. Sam was similar in the same way, so was Mikaela, so was Cade, so was Will and Carly, Epps, Viviane… Allspark, so many faces and yet, Charlie’s was the first human that was burned into his memory banks.

“I’m sorry,” said Bumblebee, clasping her hand to his face.

“You can talk now,” said Charlie, her expression turning into a surprised flicker of hope. “That’s good. I like your voice.”

“It’s… not as good as my old one,” replied Bee. “I was a lot younger though.”

Sitting down next to Charlie, the pair settled against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge: the last place they had seen each other back in 1987. A long silence passed between them before Charlie said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” asked Bee.

Charlie picked up a rock, and tossed it over the cliff, watching it plummet to the water below where it landed with a plop. “For Sam. I heard he was the one who found you. Just like I did.”

“Sam was special.” said Bee with a sad smile. “He… deserved better.”

“Does he have any family?” asked Charlie, throwing another rock.

Bee mimicked the motion with a medium sized stone. “He’s got a son, Daniel. He’s about… three or four now. He lives with Carly, and his grandparents. They live in a safe place, away from all the mess.” He made a sound, not unlike a escaping gas bladder. It was kind of a strangled laugh. “They’re still crazy, his parents, despite the loss.”

“Who did it…?” asked Charlie softly.

“ A pair of Cons named Inferno and Waspinator. Sam got to Waspinator before I got to Inferno. I chased him down to a oil refinery and the whole place went up with him melting to scrap, screaming about his loyalty to his Queen. When I got back, Sam was dead, Waspinator was in pieces, his house was on fire. I got his family to safety but it was too late.”

Another long silence passed between the pair before Charlie asked, “What made you come back?”

“Old business. To see you.” Bee looked at Charlie. “You were the first. You gave me hope, gave me a home. You took me in when I needed it the most. It’s something I can’t… never, ever, repay.”

“Oh Bee. You helped me, back all those years ago.” Leaning against his arm, she rested against it, a moment of quiet blissful sadness creeping between them. “If it weren’t for you I would have probably never recovered.”

“But our war devastated your world,” said Bee, his eyes drooping as he gazed on the ruined rebuilding San Francisco across the bay. Even now, a year later, the skyline was never the same. And in the faint distance, a spire of Unicorn was jutting from the landscape, too massive to even comprehend. “How can you say I helped you, when all we brought was ruin? Charlie--”

“No. Stop it, Bee. Just stop it. You brought me hope when there was none.” Turning to face him, she grasped his hand, curling her hands around his fingers. “Bee, if it weren’t for you, I would have probably lost myself to despair. I would have lost the very meaning of my own life, I would have never, ever, moved on from my sadness. I owe you everything Bumblebee. And there’s nothing that can change that.”

She reached over to her bag and picked up a tablet. “This is made up of Cybertronian tech we salvaged at the tech center. Clunky I know. But… it has thank you letters. Thank you letters we compiled for years and years. Bee, it’s not just you who needs thanking, it’s all the Autobots. You saved our world, time and time again, and we treated you all like… like…!”

“Monsters?” offered Bee.

“Yes…”

“It’s something we deserved. We brought a terrible thing to your peaceful planet. It wasn’t something meant for us to do.”

“Megatron would have set his sights on us even if we hadn’t managed to capture him in the first place,” argued Charlie. “We. Needed. The. Autobots. Every time we couldn’t handle it ourselves, we called on you and your friends to deal with it. And then our people hunted you down and tore you and your friends apart.”

Bowing her head, Charlie started to cry. “It’s not fair Bee. I couldn’t sway them, I couldn’t stop them. I tried and tried, and there was nothing I could do. I worked hard to lobby for your people, because I know how kind and gentle you are all but the voices get drowned out.”

Bee reached down and touched Charlie’s face, wiping a tear from her eye as she looked up at him. “I never knew, that you were helping us.”

“It was tough, because I didn’t want you to worry,” said Charlie. “But… I think, now, is the time to give this to you.”

She pressed the tablet into his hand. “Take this to Optimus. Let him know… that the people of Earth still believe in the Autobots. That there are still those who love you. Even when it’s tough.”

Bee nodded, tucking it into a compartment. “And you? Will you be okay?”

“I’ll… be okay. It’s just another 30 years. No big deal,” sniffed Charlie.

The pair stared at each other for a long moment before a aged voice called out, “Soldier!” The pair turned as a man with short grey hair stood there, leaning on a cane, his face wrinkled with age with a familiar scar. With eyes that once burned with hatred, now twinkled with amusement and sadness, Jack Burns called out, “Just fucking kiss her, soldier.”

As Jack headed back for Charlie’s car, the pair shared a long, lasting moment together before they separated. “Goodbye Bee,” said Charlie, the taste of iron and energon on her lips.

“Goodbye, Charlie. I’ll never forget you.” said Bee. He tapped his earpiece. “Bee to Space Bridge… one to come home.”

In a hurricane of light and energy, he vanished, leaving Charlie to walk to the car where the elderly man sat in the passenger's seat.

“So, Senator, how was your first kiss in 30 years?” asked Jack teasingly before she picked up a paintball gun and shot him in the head. “I see it was that good,” he laughed, before she shot him again.

“Am I invited to the wedding?”

“Jack I swear to god!” exclaimed Charlie, shooting him once more before driving off; the laugh of a man having too much fun with an old friend’s first love on the wind.

 

FINS

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Bumblebee.  
> I saw Robot Fuckers.  
> I was very. Very pleased with the movie overall, and I have an incredible time connecting the dots with the mess that is the Bayverse Franchise with this generously wonderful prologue.  
> So I wrote a fanfic. Please note, Inferno and Waspinator are creative nods to Transformers Beast Wars, and are exactly how you would imagine those two going out. In pieces and in FIRE.  
> Published 11:36PM at 5/27/2019  
> > Seems to be a trend, publishing and writing fanfic at the butt-side of midnight.


End file.
